Cork man who had tracking device on ex-girlfriend's car jailed for harassment

A woman who was being stalked by her ex-partner turning up at random locations around County Cork sent her car to a mechanic on the advice of gardaí and a tracking device was found attached to the exhaust pipe.

39-year-old Seán Fagan ofDunvale Crescent, Frankfield, Douglas, was sentenced to four years with the last two years suspended at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Monday for harassment between September 26, 2021, and March 12, 2022. Judge Dermot Sheehan ordered the accused to have no contact directly or indirectly with his ex-girlfriend and not to go within 500 metres of her home or place of work for a period of 15 years.

The young woman said in her victim impact statement which she read from the witness box on Monday: “Whatever comes from today, the one thing I hope for is that people — and you — realise how serious and dangerous stalking is and the detrimental effects it can have on someone and their life, and that you never get to do this to another woman.” 

Testified

Garda Joe Maher testified that the victim began a relationship with Seán Fagan in July 2018 and she ended it in January 2020 when difficulties arose. Afterwards there was come text communication between them, the last of which was a text on September 7, 2021.

On that date the woman found Seán Fagan’s bank card on the ground behind her car parked outside her home. She reported this to gardaí who spoke to Seán Fagan about the matter and warned him about staying away from the young woman.

But in a later incident, while dining with a friend in Douglas, the young woman went to change the parking disk on her car. Returning to the restaurant, he walked up behind her and tried to engage her in conversation. 

He said he knew she had a new boyfriend and told her he had “feelers out on her”. 

On another occasion, she was visiting a friend’s house in Cobh. Two residents in the estate became concerned about a man — later identified as Seán Fagan — sitting in his BMW near the house. 

When the victim and her friend walked from the house to a nearby shop, the two residents saw him crouch down in his car and then follow the two women on foot to the shop. The residents were so concerned that they ran to the shop to alert the victim.

She confronted Seán Fagan who said he was thinking of buying a house in the area — an explanation he later gave to gardaí when questioned.

When the victim was having coffee at a café in Innishannon with her mother he parked directly outside the window that looked onto the street. He left after a few minutes only to return to park on the opposite side of the road.

Advice

On March 13, 2022, following advice from gardaí to have her car examined by a mechanic, a tracker device was found attached to the exhaust pipe.

Gardaí searched the home of the accused man and found two tracking devices in his house as well as a tracker app on his phone which contained information corresponding to the location of the victim’s home and certain journeys taken.

While initially stating others had use of his phone and that certain encounters with the young woman were coincidences, he later pleaded guilty to harassment over the six-month period from September 2021 to March 2022.

The young woman said: “You never think when you start a relationship with someone that you will end up in a courtroom.

“I couldn't understand how all of a sudden you kept showing up where I was. I was questioning myself. Was I imagining this? Was this just a coincidence? Would people believe me? It just didn't make sense. I was convinced you had to be following me some way but how?

“After one incident where you followed me to a house, I went to my phone provider and felt like I was completely crazy asking them to check my phone to see if they could tell if someone was following me through it or pick up my location. The staff's expression left me feeling more crazy."

Reported

“After the last incident I reported where you followed me and my mother to a café, my sister suggested I get my car checked. I understood her reasoning but my initial response was, who would actually do something like that? I was also thinking that things like this only happen in movies.

“To say I was absolutely shocked by the discovery is an understatement. The most terrifying part was that you had been following me without me knowing and for how long? How long more would you have followed me and what more could potentially have happened if it hadn't been found? This crosses my mind all the time.

“Things have never been the same since this all started 2021. My peace of mind, my safety, my family's safety, my personal life, relationships, my right to privacy, everything — all violated and affected by your actions.

“I am constantly on edge and living in a hyper-vigilant state which is absolutely exhausting. I can never relax. Watching over my shoulder, scanning people on the streets or shops in case it's you, scanning the registration plate and driver's side of any car that passes me that looks like yours, wondering everyday if this is the corner I go around and come face-to-face with you.

"My sense of security and peace of mind have been completely disturbed. There have been moments I have felt so paranoid thinking you might have come back again so I have had my car checked a few times since the tracker was found. I installed a dash camera in my car.” 

Detail

She went on to detail the security measures she and members of her family had undertaken since this harassment came to light.

“I feel absolutely violated by what you have done and it's taken away a part of me and I am not the same person I was before all of this.

“It has been a very long and difficult journey for me to get to this point today and I doubted myself many times. When I heard you pled guilty all I could do was break down crying. Finally, I didn't have to fight anymore to prove that I didn't imagine it. I wasn't crazy. All of this did happen. I feel vindicated."

She thanked Garda Joseph Maher, her family and her partner.

Defence senior counsel, Alice Fawsitt, said there had been no communication for the past four years. She said of the defendant: “He is still maintaining coincidence in relation to early matters but is still pleading guilty. He did not want to frighten her. 

"It was never his intention to hurt her. He did not consider the impact on her. (The probation service puts him) at a low risk of reoffending. Without attempting to minimise the effect on the victim there was no threat of violence. He has no previous convictions. He does regret his actions — it is a serious offence.”